In pictures: NYC’s first underground park

New York City already has a fantastic park dead in the center of Manhattan. But if for some reason Central Park isn’t enough for you, then you should know there’s a futuristic underground park in the making, and the first photos showing it off are already out.

The Lowline Lab opened on the Lower East Side offering a preview of what’ll be available to visitors in the future. Inhabitat reports that the Lowline Lab will act as a long-term open laboratory that will explore how a subterranean vegetative landscape would be maintained. The lab is studying light dispersion, water collection and temperature regulation for growing plants underground.

Light is one of the elements plants need to support photosynthesis, of course, and there are over 3,000 plants in the 1,000 square-foot oasis that need access to sunlight.

A solar canopy uses water-resistant mirrors to capture natural sunlight from the warehouse roof and distribute it to the plants below. The special optical devices can collect a full spectrum of light even on cloudy days. Once captured, light is then channeled inside with the help of a series of protective tubes to a central distribution point, where it’s dispersed throughout the park.

This first Lowline Lab park is already open to visitors for free every Saturday and Sunday through March 2016. A few images showing the park’s floral arrangements and solar canopy follow below, with more available on Inhabitat.